Chris Oglesby

Chief Executive

Born in Scunthorpe in 1967, Chris grew up in Manchester from the age of four, attending Cheadle Hulme School, before studying at the London School of Economics and City University, London. He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Property Valuation and Finance and joined the investment team in the City of London Office of St Quintin (now CBRE), before returning north to work for Bruntwood in 1991. He qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1993 and set up Bruntwood’s Manchester city centre office, adding an in-house sales and marketing team, before taking over the reins of the company as CEO at the end of 1999.

As a family-owned and run company, Bruntwood has always operated with a strong set of values, founded on its belief that the success of the company comes from the success of its customers and the communities in which it operates. This commitment to cities has led to Chris playing an active and often leading role in many public and private sector initiatives and partnerships. He has been a board member at CityCo (Manchester’s city centre management company), the Piccadilly Partnership, Corridor Manchester (the city’s major knowledge economy initiative focussed on its universities and hospitals) and the Irwell City Park initiative along the boundary between Manchester and Salford. In Liverpool and Leeds, he has taken his experience of best practice in local area partnerships and instigated the set-up of the Commercial District and West End Partnerships respectively in each city.

Bruntwood is nationally recognised for its support of cultural and community initiatives, donating 10% of its annual profits to charitable causes. Chris is a Trustee of The Oglesby Charitable Trust, which works with more than 40 community based charities a year, and is a board member of Onside, a new charity which is developing a series of youth centres across the North based on the successful Lads and Girls Club model pioneered in Bolton.

Chris has a strong belief in continued personal development. He was a member of the Academy of Chief Executives from 1998-2002 and has been a member of the Young Presidents Organisation since 2000, holding several officer positions over the years including Chairman in 2007/8. He also attended the Owner President Management Programme at Harvard for three years, graduating in 2007.

Chris lives with his wife Jane and their three children on an organic small-holding in Cheshire, where they produce their own organic meat and vegetables. As a family, they enjoy a range of outdoor activities, from working on the farm, cross-country running and hill-walking to skiing off-piste in the winter. A keen cyclist, Chris also founded the Bruntwood Ellipse Cycle Challenge, an annual fund-raising event for Bruntwood staff, customers and suppliers. Chris also played rugby until his late 20s but now contents himself with watching Sale Sharks and England. As a Mancunian, Chris is, of course, a Manchester City fan.

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